Lily Luna Potter : The New Silver Trio
by the elsinatr
Summary: She wanted to be daring and to be acknowledged for her first name "Lily", not her family name, "Potter". She wanted to rise to the top, to accomplish everything. But more than anything, she wanted to be different. SM/LLP, slight DM/HG.
1. Birthday Shopping

_A/N.:For those of you not familiar with the next generation of Harry Potter, here they are. I took the liberty of changing some of their ages and wizarding levels, but it isn't TOO drastic. They will appear in the story. She marries Rolf Scamander, son of accomplished wizard naturalist, Newt Scamander. Lysander and Lorcan are Luna's kids. _

_I have moved Scorpius from his usual place of Second year and into first year.__ It's all for the storyline, so don't kill me._

_I hope you'll enjoy this next generation fic very much. _

**Lily Luna Potter: The New Silver Trio**

Chapter 1

Birthday Shopping

_"Do you worry that you're not liked_

_How long till you break_

_You're happy cause you smile_

_But how much can you fake_

_An ordinary boy an ordinary name  
But ordinary's just not good enough today."_

_~Superman's Dead, Our Lady Peace__  
_

**August 20th, 2019**

First off, Lily Luna Potter was a witch.

There was no doubt in that statement. Her mother was a witch, her father was a wizard, and her two brothers James and Albus were wizards.

And so was her mother's parents, and their parents, and their parents, and their parents, all the way down to the Peverells.

To top it off, her father was very famous in the wizarding world. This wasn't saying much, but it was. She was the youngest in a family of five, and the youngest cousin in the Weasley family. The order was the following, as James so kindly reminded her of everyday.

First was Victoire Claudette Weasley, daughter of Fleur and Bill Weasley. She was part-Veela, with her sultry good looks, and her permanent beauty. She never had bad hairdays in her life. Neither did she have to work extremely hard at life. She charmed the heart right out of the most hardened teachers, and she was a favorite of the headmistress, Minerva McGonagall.

Next was Molly and Lucy Weasley or the twins, as everyone fondly dubs them, the only daughters of Percy and Audrey Weasley. They were the first to break the Weasley tradition and instead they went to Ravenclaw. They were extremely talented, extremely energetic, and extremely annoying. When they were paired up with their counterparts, Lysander and Lorcan Scamander, the gates of Hell would break loose. Percy had enough on his hands at work without the number of owls that constantly flew into his workplace with news of their latest crime. They were trickster, troublemakers, the next generation of Fred and George Weasley in female form. However they were different in many ways. Molly would always be the first to remind her sister not to put their toe across the line whereas Lucy was the brains of their little operations.

Not too far behind was Roxanne Weasley, eldest child of George and Angelina Weasley's children. A tomboy right from the start, she would constantly be seen with Lily and her cousin Louis. She was a hardworking, down-to-earth person; it was a wonder she wasn't in Hufflepuff. What she lacked in brains, she made up for in sweat and good hard work. She was the backbone of the Weasley family, the one who tied them all together. A peacemaker and a pacifier, she always knew what everyone was doing. Her leadership qualities were outstanding.

Then there was Dominique Weasley, the middle child of Fleur and Bill. Although she was born in the same week as Roxanne, Dominique was truly different in many ways. It seemed as though she was destined to become a Gryffindor. A bit reckless at times, she knew how to rein herself in and pipe down when the time was right. She was the brightest witch in her year, and it seemed like she didn't need to work at all, which caused a huge number of feuds between her and Roxanne. Despite their shaky differences, both witches were great friends, but due to their personalities, they would rarely go on outings.

Lily's favorite cousin in the world was Rose Weasley. She looked and acted like her mother, Hermione Weasley. In fact, if not for her blue eyes, she wouldn't believe that her father was Ron Weasley. Known for and intelligence that rivaled Dominique's, she would rarely be seen without her older cousin. Preferring classical literature over Quidditch games, she'd always be seen poring over old volumes and textbooks, doing "research". Lily couldn't recall how many times she had to pry Rose's eyes out of a book, but she knew it was pretty often.

Rose's brother Hugo was the odd one in the family. Her Uncle Ron usually hung out with him, because he really wasn't good at making friends. He would cower at little things, especially spiders, just like his father. It was no surprise that he didn't like Quidditch at all. He was, and is, fondly nicknamed, "The Lil' Blubberin' Wreck", and he hated his nickname with a vengeance. The only people who called him that was Uncle George and James.

James was another problem Lily had. If she had to mention all the times her brothers had teased her and tricked her, she'd have become a senior without realizing it. James Sirius Potter wasn't "serious" at all. At home she'd always have an eye out for him, just in case he had chucked a Dungbomb under her bedroom door by "accident". Albus Severus Potter, the middle child however, was always persuaded by James to join in on the fun. More often than not he wouldn't though. Albus was a kind heart, and a wuss at Quidditch, mainly because he had the stamina of a billy goat. But James was a prodigy on the field. He was a Seeker for Gryffindor, and already a couple of professional Quidditch teams were keeping tabs on him.

But Lily was a different story. If James had to play Chaser against her, she'd win 9 over 10 times. It was obvious she had inherited her mother's Quidditch genes. Ginny Weasley would always go down with Lily to the pitch to play Quidditch with her the whole year.

That would be another thing Lily would miss. She was starting her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

She was happy and excited, but she was also anxious. She wanted to stand out, and rise to the top. She wanted others to remember her by her first name, not her last. She wanted to get out of her father's shadow.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring at a pair of big orb-like eyes.

"KREACHER!" she shrieked, and the elf toppled out of her bed and massaged his head. "Mistress need not scream." he grumbled. "Master Harry wants you out of bed, Mistress Lily. Chop chop!"

Lily was quite fond of Kreacher and she was certain the feeling was mutual. But today was a different story.

She turned around in her bed, facing the wall. "Five more minutes please, Kreach'."

"No no no no NO! Up your get!" Kreacher said, raising a finger threateningly.

She got up at once and massaged her back. "Great wake up call." she glared angrily at the old elf.

Kreacher chuckled. "Doesn't Mistress not remember? It's your birthday!"

As soon as she heard that, Lily Luna Potter scrambled back into bed.

"Lily Luna Potter!" Lily groaned. Kreacher had warned her he was going to tell her father, but did she listen? No matter, Harry was already at the foot of her bed and had a stern expression on her face. She sat up immediately with wide eyes.

"So the birthday girl decided to _sleep_ the whole day, eh?" The corners of his mouth jerked upwards and he ran forwards and gave Lily a big hug, much to her surprise. "Happy eleven years, Lil'." he said with tears in his eyes.

Lily rolled her eyes heavenward and scrambled out of the covers. "I'm only eleven, dad. Stop being such a fuddyduddy. You're an Auror, and you're not supposed to cry." Harry looked at her. Fuddyduddy? But his youngest child was already bustling down the stairs at full volume. He scrambled behind her, to put the covers on Sirius's mother.

Pretty soon the distant shrieks were starting up as Albus and James came out of their bedrooms at maximum energy levels. "Give that back James Sirius! I mean now!" Albus roared, almost colliding with Lily down the stairs. He sidestepped her, burst down the railing, and football-tackled James to the ground. The pair of them were writhing and squealing.

"You give that back!"

"Or what?"

"OR I'll kill you!"

"PFFT. You're too pansy to try!"

"What?"

"I said you're too PANSY to try!"

"OH YEAH? SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU WANK-"

"Albus Severus Potter!" Ginny Weasley was bright and early that Saturday morning. Dressed in a summer outfit, she wore an apron and an expression of distate. Her hand was clutching a wooden spoon ominously. Albus turned white as a sheet. "B-b-b-bu-... but James d-did..-"

"I don't want to hear it!" she said, a steely glint in her eyes. "Now get dressed." Both boys did exactly what their mother told them to do, and they ran up the stairs like a ghost was following them. Her expression softened as she saw Lily sitting on the bottom of the stairs with a half-sleepy expression, followed by her father, whose hand was sliding off the handle railing. "Wake up you two. Honestly, you look exactly alike."

Indeed they were. Both Lily and Harry's facial expressions were the same. When it came to personality, that somehow changed. Lily was the ambitious one in the family, always starting and finishing projects when she felt like it. Her objections strayed as much as her mind did. Harry always humored her whenever she included him in her many adventures. Their father/daughter relationship was a highly unusual one, but a strong bond nonetheless.

Ginny was quite happy that Lily had inherited her Chaser skills. These days, she could never find similarities with her children, except for the red hair on Lily and the auburn hair on James. She practically had to threaten Lily by taking her Nimbus away whenever she forgot to do chores. But one thing was certain: Lily L. Potter and her mother had the same hardworking and strong characteristic around them. That much was certain.

"What didja cook now, mum?" Lily half groaned, half yawned. Ginny looked at her disapprovingly. "Your favorite, dear. Blueberry pancakes." At her words, a fire burst through Lily like never before. In half a second, she was grabbing a plate, cutlery and a pancake, the next she was pouring syrup all over it, nearly flooding it in her haste.

Harry laughed, and quickly joined his daughter, but not before giving Ginny a kiss as thanks. She blushed, and muttered meaningless things, which made Harry grin even more.

"Dad? Are fe gointh thou Diagon Alley?" Harry raised an eyebrow sternly. "Don't eat with your mouth full, Lily. You'll turn into Uncle Ron." Her mother laughed warmly.

Lily swallowed an enormous amount of pancake, feeling it go down her neck slowly. Thumping her chest, she spoke again. "Are we going to Diagon Alley, Dad?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, smiles creeping up to their faces. Lily looked at the scene with amusement. Her parents were funny that way sometimes. After a few unspoken words, Harry eyes came back to his daughter. "It's your birthday, Lil'. Sure we can go to Diagon Alley."

"Yes! Because I need to buy spellbooks, potion ingredients, quills, ink, parchment, a Hogwarts uniform, and a ... a wand!" She said the last part with so much emphasis. Harry knew she had fallen in love with magic. "I could make a table disappear, turn mice into teacups, make a peacock lose its color, put a giggling charm on James, oh the possibilities!"

Her chair had fallen down in her excitement, and she was now standing. Then she calmed down and looked at her pancakes thoughtfully. "I think this was how Rosie felt when she had her first year." A goofy grin broke free and she smiled at her parents. "Could I have an owl?" she asked nicely, giving them puppy dog eyes. Harry blinked. He couldn't remember when she got to be so close to him and Ginny. Her nose was almost touching their arms.

"Pleeaaase?"

Harry thought for a moment, then turned to his wife. Ginny looked at him, a secret smile hidden on her face. "What do you think, _Dad?_" she said coyly, sliding an arm around his waist.

"Hmm. I might give it a thought, Lil'."

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!" Lily yelled around the room, knocking down a few priceless vases in the process. Just when she started a war dance, Albus and James burst through the room. It was evident that they had been spying.

Harry put a knowing look on his face. "Extendable Ears, huh." James' cheeks turned red and Albus' face turned pale.

Ignoring that their obvious plan was foiled, James put his ideas into action. "If Lily can get an owl, how come Albus and I can't have one?" he crossed his arms in disapproval and Albus nodded his head like an innocent puppy.

"Ugh, you got yourself into this, Harry." Ginny said, raising her hands in resignation. "Don't come crying to me when this all blows up in your face." She strode to where Lily was still dancing and quickly stopped her.

"You do a lot of crying, Daddy." Lily innocently pointed out. The face of aghast was permanently etched across the Boy-Who-Lived's face as he was confronted by three kids under the age of 14.

"How are you, Mr Potter?" a wizened old man was leering at him. Tom the barman was still at the Leaky Cauldron, a permanent fixture in the old pub's long life. Years of work and solitude had made him hunched over and tooth-less. While Albus and James thought he was weird, Lily thought he was interesting.

"Good. Just going through, Tom. I'm sure you understand." Harry smiled.

Tom scratched his head as he saw a small river of redheads and raven-haired people. "This the family, 'Arry?"

"Yes," he said carefully. Tom looked at Lily, who grinned back at him with her large green eyes. "Who's the little lady?"

"Lily Luna Potter," Harry replied proudly. "Our youngest. Beside her with the dark-red hair is James, the oldest. The one who looks like me is Albus." the father gestured to his children, and all but one should obvious signs of distress.

Ginny spoke up. "My name is Ginny, and I'm Harry's wife." she greeted him cordially, shaking his wrinkled hand.

"Beau'iful, beau'iful. You'll be off now, eh?" Again Tom leered. "Yes," Harry said and he steered his family into the brick alley.

He pulled out his wand and tapped at the four surrounding bricks. Even after all these years watching Lily family go in and out of Diagon Alley, nothing ever prepared her for the entrance to Diagon Alley. The bricks made a passageway, following her father's orders, and even the dust from them was real. Lily just couldn't get enough of the idea of magic.

The gateway was opened, and the ongoing chaos inside it. Witches and wizards were everywhere, buying cauldrons, selling potions, trading off used books. It was every bit as magical as Lily wanted to be.

"Hey, Lilykins! Check out the Quidditch shop!" James yelled, grabbing his mother's hand. "Let's not." Albus whined, being dragged by an impatient Harry. Lily sighed, and followed. Let it be said that you can take the Potter out of Quidditch, but you cannot take the Quidditch out of Potter. It was true on many forms.

"Coming!" she yelled, running to the display booth. What she saw made her mouth drop in amazement.

It was the Speedshot, the fastest, almost Apparition-like broom ever created. There were many rumors about this new broom, some were believable, others were simply absurd. One of them was that the broom could Apparate. Lily had known that this was almost true; it could travel as fast as you could Apparate. But another wasn't so believable; you could travel to Mars on it. At this remark, Lily had rolled her eyes at. Everyone knew that Cho Chang was the first witch to travel to the moon on a Firebolt and a few bubblehead spells; no one else had tried anything else of the sort. Most likely it was her godmother Luna Scamander had made up that rumor.

"Lily! Look, it's a Speedshot!" James squealed, drool coming out of his mouth. He had his face pressed to the glass, and it was slowly getting dirty. James was a rather funny person when it came to Quidditch. The simple word "Snitch" and "broomstick" could make James Sirius Potter faint from lack of breath. Sometimes Lily wondered if he was able to ride a broom at all, or if he would just wet himself in excitement. But Lily knew he was good at Quidditch. She had played against him countless summers at a time, after all.

"Let's go in!" James whined, tugging at his mother. Ginny looked at him with annoyance. "As much as I'm in awe of this new _Speedshot_, let's not go in. We might get _tempted_ to buy it." she shot a look at Harry, who grinned sheepishly. He too was caught drooling at the new broom.

An impatient snort came out of Lily's mouth before she could stop herself. Her family looked at her in surprise. "Why don't we buy our supplies then meet back at Florean Fortescues' Ice Cream Parlour?" Lily suggested, reminding them of their real mission.

"Right," Harry cleared his throat. "James, Albus, you're with Mum. Lily, you're with me." Harry and Lily watched as her brothers and her mother drifted out of sight, on to Madam Malkin's.

"Dad?" Lily asked. Harry looked down at her questionably. "Why aren't I going to Madam Malkin's?"

Harry laughed at her question. "Sorting yourself before you're even sorted? That's different, even for you Lil'."

Lily sighed, messing up her short bob. "It's no surprise, Dad. I'll be in Gryffindor, just like you, and mom, and James, and Albus, and Louis, and Rose-"

"You never know Lil', you never know. Your mom and I were half-expecting Albus to be in a different house."

"Really?" They were in front of Ollivander's.

"Yes. To tell you the truth," his voice dropped to a whisper, so Lily had to crane her neck to listen, "The sorting hat almost put me in Slytherin."

"I don't believe you," she crossed her arms and peered at her father suspiciously, making him laugh.

There were a lot of things Lily had to buy. First she and her father went to the Apothecary to buy new potions ingredients for her, and as Harry's ministry robes were becoming too worn out, they made a quick stop at Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, where they bumped into Bill and Fleur with their family of three. Louis was starting the first year too at Hogwarts, which made Lily more excited than ever before. But there was too many things to get, so Harry assured Fleur that they would spend the evening at the Leaky Cauldron with them.

Harry let Lily go to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, where they met Luna and her husband Rolf, along with the twins Lysander and Lorcan. Lysander pushed her to the Muggle tricks and showed her a great many things. Most likely he wanted her to get it for him because he knew that Harry was a partner in George Weasley's shop. Luna was busy examining the little pygmy puffs with a dreamy air, while Rolf was looking at the protective gear at the back. Whilst Lily was at the back and Luna was at the counter, Harry took the time to talk to George, who told them how they had to renovate the place even more. Harry only realized this when George showed him the back. It was bigger than the original place, which naturally meant business was booming.

"OK, Lil'. What's next on the list?" Harry asked jovially. They stepped out of the WWW, and were now under the stinging glare of the sun.

"Oh, umm..." Lily's eyes scanned the list. "_First year students will require_...here's the booklist..._Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1, The A to Z Guide to a Beginner's Herbology_..." She hardly noticed where her father was steering her to. Nevertheless, she stepped over a ledge and continued to read.

"..._A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_..._Magical History Book 1_... that's it I think." Lily looked up from the list and found herself in Flourish and Blotts. Harry was shocked at the big list she had just read out to him. "When I was your age we didn't have that many books," he frowned, looking at the teetering pile of books she narrowly knocked down.

The manager came hurrying towards them. "Hogwarts?" he said abruptly. "Come to get your new books?"

"Yes-" The manager took a pair of tongs and hurried to the back. Lily looked at her father quizzically. Harry leaned down, "he thinks you're a third year." The man came back with a big leathery green book which was convulsing horribly. "Sir," Lily said quickly, making the manager stare at her, "I don't exactly need that, you see, it's my first year." The manager looked like he was about to faint.

"Yes, yes," he muttered breathlessly. He dropped the bound book in a nearby cage. "Don't you know how to tame them?" Harry asked. He remembered that Hagrid had showed his class how to calm them down when he was in third year. "Well yes, but someone came and poured Stinksap all over them, and they've been furious... why would anyone do such a thing?" he said the last part to himself and hurried away.

Lily giggled; she was quite happy the manager made a mistake. It made her feel older. She glanced at the list and headed to the Herbology section, Harry trailing behind her. "Here it is," she said, reaching out for a first year Herbology book, when a pale hand grabbed it first. "Wha-"

Her heart literally stopped.

It was the boy Lily had seen almost a year ago, at her dad's workplace in the Ministry of Magic. She was there to drag her father from his desk, as Ginny so kindly ordered her to do. Her parents had talked about it, and she vaguely remembered her uncle Ron (Rose's dad) talking about the boy's father, Draco Malfoy. As a matter of fact, his father was with him that same day, talking to her father, although Lily had no idea what the subject was about. His sleek, neatly combed hair was golden, his light grey-blue eyes defined him, and his pale skin only enhanced the stark contours of the boy's face. Lily had only seen a face like that in muggle paintings of "angels".

This boy looked... angelic.

"Oh so sorry," he said, looking at her with sincerity. He handed the book back to her. "What's your name?" he asked curiously.

Lily shyly replied, "Lily Luna Potter."

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully, "that's a nice name. I'm Scorpius." he indicated with a goofy grin.

"Lily." It was her father. "Say hello to Draco Malfoy, please." Standing beside Scorpius was another person just like him, only older. "Hello, Mr Malfoy," she said quietly. She whispered to Scorpius, "Is that your father?"

"Yes. Isn't he weird?" Scorpius whispered back. This made Harry and Draco look at their whispering kids. "Did you just call me weird?" Draco said, emotionless. Scorpius flashed a wicked smile and took Lily by the hand. "Let's look around Lily."

"OK." Lily allowed herself to be whisked away.

"...What with Dolores' case and all, you really should be careful," Harry was talking a mile a minute to an annoyed-looking Malfoy. "I know you're a prosecutor and all-"

"You know Dolores isn't innocent," Malfoy said, bored out of his skull. "I just have to make her feel guilty, and then she goes to Azkaban."

Malfoy was recently proclaimed as the best wizard prosecutor in the whole Ministry of Magic. He was a candidate for the Wizengamot, a winner of _Witch Weekly's_ Most Charming Smile Award, and a member of the Hogwarts governors' board. During the past few years, Malfoy had grown from the cold, sinister bully of the playground to a smirking, yet charismatic person. The amount of patience he had was overwhelming. He would rather hide from the press than hug them, and if Harry had heard that statement recounted to him a long time ago, he would have laughed his pants off.

"Well you have to be careful." Harry chided, as he grabbed a copy of _Spellman's Spellmanary_ for Albus.

Malfoy snorted. "Yes, Mother." Harry frowned at him, but continued on.

"So how's the family doing?" That was the question Harry asked whenever he bumped into the pale-face wizard.

"Fine," he muttered. "Astoria's getting bigger everyday." Astoria Greengrass was Malfoy's wife through an arranged marriage that their families had proposed. They were a happy couple, but the relationship was tense. Astoria had been brought up to be a nice, homely pure-blooded wife, whereas Draco would have none of that. He wanted to have more excitement, rather than a submissive female who greeted him everytime he came home. They were having another child, and the birth date hadn't been fixed as of yet.

"That's nice." Harry said vaguely, but was interrupted by a tug on the arm. "Dad!" Lily and Scorpius were back. "Look what I found!" In her hand was a copy of _Unfogging the Future_. Harry's eyes went big. "Since when do you know about Divination?"

"Scorpius showed it to me, he said it was really interesting. Will I learn about it in Hogwarts?" Lily's eyes were so hopeful, that Malfoy had to fight a snort. Harry was shellshocked. Neither he nor Ginny had found any happiness whenever they were in Divination. The mere memories of Trelawney were enough to make them puke. Malfoy looked at his son sternly, as if to chide him on his behavior.

But what was really odd was that Draco now had his hand over his son's shoulders and was leading him out of the bookstore. "Hey, wait Malfoy!" Harry yelled.

It was too late. Father and son had already drifted into the lunch crowd.

"Did I say something wrong, Dad?" Lily asked nervously.

"No, honey..." Harry frowned, "Draco's up to something, that's what."

Disclaimer: All right reserved to JK Rowling. I do not own any Harry Potter characters, places, or ideas.

Do not use this plot without my permission.


	2. Weasels and Ravens

A/N.: Lily's such a dear! I hope you like this chapter! There is french in there, but don't worry. I'm fluent in French ever since kindergarten, so there are no atrocities in here. There'll be translations for those who don't understand, however. Enjoy!

French is _italicized._

Chapter 2

Weasels and Ravens

_"You're a little bit shy _  
_A little too quiet _  
_You're the mixed up girl _  
_That everybody leaves behind _  
_A little bit weird _  
_A little too bright _  
_But you just might be _  
_That little bomb at their side_..._"_

_~Annie, Our Lady Peace_

"Did you say anything?"

"No, father."

The other man sighed in relief. "Now if I can only eliminate Potter's suspicions..." He thought of all the paranoia surrounding the Boy-Who-Lived and snorted. "That will be quite a task."

The son looked at his father, "What should we do?"

The man was lost in his thoughts. "I just need someone who can be close to him, to the Potter family. If only..." He glanced at his son, who was innocently looking back at him.

"Where exactly did you go when we were in that wretched bookstore?" He snapped.

"At the back with a girl named Lily." The son responded with a shrug.

A grin slowly oozed into the wizard's face.

"Excellent."

**

* * *

September 1, 2019**

"LILY LUNA POTTER!" A harsh voice screamed, the sound waves reaching the old floorboards, making Lily jump. "WE'RE LEAVING WITHOUT YOU UNLESS YOU WAKE UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Lily sat up, looking wildly at her bedroom door. She pulled some clothes, ran out the door and tumbled down the stairs. Mrs Black started screeching.

A resounding crash and a thundering noise was all anyone heard had they been in the livingroom at the time. A disheveled Lily Potter appeared out of the chaos. Suddenly, a great shout of laughter filled the air. Lily looked around, anxiety reaching a record high. Had she gone mad?

No, she hadn't. In fact, directly in her line of vision was her older cousin, Fred Weasley.

"Freddie!" Lily squealed. The voice who had been her alarm clock that morning was, of course her dear cousin Fred, who was a practical joker at heart, much like his father George.

Fred grinned. If he had a favorite cousin, it'd be Lily. "Lillers!" he yelled exuberantly, shaking Lily's hand. "Such a jolly place to meet you! My, what wonderful clothes you are wearing! Tell me, is it Malkins or Tattings?"

Lily looked at her pajamas, old and ripped and back at Fred again. She looked amused. "Fredders, were you the one waking me up today?"

"..."

"...maaybe."

Lily put her hands on her hips, looking amused. "And is there anyone else who shouldn't be here?"

Roxanne, Fred's younger sister, on cue, skipped into the living room, wearing a goofy grin on her face. "I hope you don't mind our staying here, Lil!" she exclaimed, swinging her arms around. As an afterthought she added, "We'll only be here for two hours until the train arrives, so we won't be such a terror on you!"

"Yeah, like that'll happen," Fred muttered. Roxanne threw a shoe at him.

When Harry came down from the bedroom, he didn't expect four bright faces beaming up at him. Nor did he expect a plate full of hot steaming pancakes at the ready for him.

"My my! This is certainly a surprise!" Harry grinned appreciatively, looking round at them all. He sat down next to Fred, who grinned goofily at him.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Roxanne and Fred. "Just what're you two planning to do today? Not some mischief, I take it?" He gave them meaningful looks.

Roxanne and Fred exchanged looks before the latter spoke nervously, "Think of the pancakes as payment for unpreventable happenings, Uncle Harry."

"What unpreventable happenings?" Said a disapproving voice behind the two teens. Said teens jumped in their seats.

"Nothing, Ginny dear," Harry said nervously. "Come sit down. Look at what the children have _concocted._" He gazed ever so slightly towards Roxanne and Fred. They, at least, understood the meaning behind his words.

But, just as soon as Ginny had put the syrup on the pancakes, a resounding crash echoed throughout the other side of the room.

"I'll get it, Uncle Harry," Fred volunteered. Harry had barely time to register Fred's words.

Roxanne sniggered at the look on Harry's face. "FRED WEASLEY!"

Ruth Scamander dusted the soot off of her muggle clothes as she looked around the house. She glanced back at the dark fireplace, trying to see if anyone else came through it, but no flames appeared. It was only her, in the middle of an unknown livingroom, but at first glance, Ruth Scamander seemed indifferent to her fate.

"What a nice place this is," she murmured to herself, walking over to the mahogany banisters and touching the wood, "with quite the air of distinction, really." She passed an umbrella stand that look uncannily like a troll's leg and made her way through the hallway.

A startling pop invaded her senses. Ruth turned around and saw a fairly old house-elf. Male, by the looks of it. "Hello madam," he said courteously, bowing low to her. "Were you invited by the Master?"

"Umm, well you see," Ruth said nervously, "I was using the Floo, and for some reason I-"

"Kreacher!" A tall boy, possibly a man, was on the other side of the hallway. He had his hand in mid-wave but stopped upon seeing the newcomer. Slightly curious as to who the person was, Ruth walked a little closer to the man/boy.

"Who are you?" He said cautiously.

Ruth replied truthfully. "My name's Ruth Scamander. I sort of got lost and landed in your house. I'm really sorry."

The man/boy grinned. "This isn't my house, although I'm flattered. I think I've heard the name Scamander before."

"Well, if it helps at all, my dad's name is Rolf. And my granddad's name is Newt Scaman-"

"Say no more!" He smiled. "Come with me!"

Ruth followed the man/boy into another room, leaving Kreacher to mutter something about red-headed twins and their descendants.

* * *

"Honestly, one of these days..." Harry muttered, slicing his pancake rather forcefully in two. Lily giggled quietly behind her hand.

Suddenly the youngest Potter remembered something important. "Mum?"

"Yes dear," Ginny said absent-mindedly, pouring herself some milk.

"Where's Albus and James?"

Roxanne answered before Ginny could open her mouth. "They're with Grandma at the Burrow. At least, that's the last I saw of them."

"They wanted to spend time with Louis and Rose. Your Uncle Bill and his family are staying over there because Shell Cottage needs some fixing up." Ginny explained quietly.

"...and I bet all of Neville's spawns are over there, wrecking havoc on your poor mother, Ginevra dear." Harry said merrily. Ginny threw the milk cap at Harry, who easily caught it with his seeker reflexes.

Roxanne made a gagging sound. "You don't mean to say that Oven's there?"

"Olive." Ginny corrected her, trying not to smile.

Lily was confused. "Why do you call her Oven?"

"Because she's hot for Jamie-boy, that's why Lillers." Roxanne wiggled her eyebrows.

The look on Lily's face was priceless.

"Ahem." Everyone turned around and saw Fred in the doorway. "There's a bit of a slight problem here, Uncle Harry..."

Harry looked around. Nothing had changed, apart from the weird crasing noise they had all heard a few minutes ago. "What in the world are you talking about-"

"-lovely place you got here, Mister Boy." A darkish red-haired girl with blue eyes came out from behind Fred and looked dreamily around the room.

"My name isn't Mister Boy, Ruth..." Fred grumbled under his breath.

Everyone laughed, but none as hard as Lily. "Mister...mister-b-boy! kha.-haha!" Ruth looked at Lily with a vague interest.

Harry intervened. "Umm, exactly who-"

"I'm Ruth Scamander." The girl said nonchalantly, tucking a strand of hair underneath her ear. "I'm real sorry, I guess I wasn't paying any attention when I tried Flooing."

Ginny walked into the diningroom from the kitchen. "Is it just me or did I hear the name 'Scamander' just..." she stopped and looked at Ruth.

"_Luna_?" The red-headed Potter rushed at 'Luna' and hugged her ferociously. "Did you _dye_ your hair? How come you've never responded to my owls? And don't tell me that you were busy finding Rumple-Corned Nerkacks because that would be a complete waste of time." A shocked Ruth disentangled herself from Ginny's grasp.

"Sorry, ma'am, but I'm not Luna. Luna's my mother."

"WHAT?"

* * *

"Luna dear, I have a strange feeling we're forgetting something..."

"Don't pay any attention to it, Rolf. It's the Nargles talking."

"...what are _Nargles_ again?"

* * *

"...so we ended up living somewhere in Wales for the time being, with my grandfather Newt. I have twin brothers, Lysander and Lorcan. They've been studying at Beauxbatons for a while, because of the independant learning program they have there. Now that all of us are near England, we'll be going to Hogwarts."

"Really?" Ginny said, intrigued. "I was good friends with your mother a long time ago. We attended Hogwarts together."

Lily looked up. "So are you gonna be a first year then?" she asked.

"Yes," Ruth said mildly. "My parents and I were about to go there early, but I had some trouble with the Floo, as you can recall."

Fred cleared his throat and pulled out his wand. "_Scourgify!"_ The plates were clean.

He got up and stretched. "I think it's time for us to go to Hogwarts, as a matter of fact."

Ginny stood up quickly, glancing at the clock. It was 9:30. "Okay, is everyone packed? Roxie dear, do you have your books? Quills? Wands?"

"We packed a long time ago, Auntie, thanks for asking though." Roxanne replied tiredly.

Ginny turned and smiled at Ruth. "Does your family have your things?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, I think we can go, then."

Thirty minutes later, all six of them got out of Harry's van and loaded their luggage into the trolleys. The beaming faces of Molly and Arthur near the entrance of King's Cross awaited them there, along with Albus and James, who didn't look very happy at all.

Arthur helped Harry with the trolley, while Molly grabbed Ginny by the arm.

"Roxie, Fred, Ruth and Lily, go wait for us by the barrier. We'll catch up with you later!" she called out. Roxanne and Fred exchanged looks, but said nothing. Ruth and Lily, talking exuberantly to one another, followed the older teens.

Molly led her only daughter to the corner where Albus and James were sulking in.

"Okay, what did you two do now?"

"He roped me into it!" Albus said immediately, shooting James the dirtiest look on record.

"Did not!"

"You did, and you know it!"

"Oh, stop being _such_ a baby!"

"Me, a baby? You're the one who cried buckets when Rose punched you!"

"That was _not_ crying! I was yawning because you woke me up at four in the morning, you prat!"

"Yeah, well, who rigged the room with booby traps, huh?"

"You're lucky you still have normal bodyparts to begin with!"

"Who said your bodyparts were normal?"

James snarled. "That's it! Don't even try to approach me this year!"

"WAIT ONE DARN MINUTE!" Molly and Ginny yelled. Both boys gulped nervously.

"Ginny Weasley. Or should I say, Ginny Potter." said a dreamy voice in a matter-of-fact tone.

Luna, along with the rest of her family, had just gotten out of the car. Two sixteen-year old twins came out of the car, helping a man with long brown hair in a ponytail, presumably their father, with the luggage.

Ginny turned around, and Albus and James breathed a sigh of relief, which had not gone unnoticed by Molly. "Don't think this lets you get off." she said sternly, before helping Arthur and Harry with the luggage.

"Luna! You forgot about your daughter!"

The man with the brown ponytail hit his head on the car ceiling. "Sweet Merlin!"

Luna grimaced. "And here I was, thinking the Nargles had infested Rolf's head once again..." she said sadly.

"Who mentioned Nargles?" Harry said, joining them. He turned towards Albus and Potter. "Go to the barrier." he instructed. He turned around and was face-to-face with Luna.

"I should have known."

"Nice to see you once again, Harry Potter." Luna smiled serenely.

Ginny made a small impatient noise, pointing the huge clock. "Let's walk and talk, shall we?" she suggested. Luna nodded wholeheartedly, her family following her.

"Lysander, Lorcan," she said over her shoulder, "say hi to my old friends, Ginny and Harry."

"Harry?"

"As in Harry Potter?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

"Never mind him. That's Ginevra!"

"Who?"

"Honestly, you play Quidditch but you don't even know who she is-"

"She's not called Ginevra, that's just what the history books say."

"Idiot."

Ginny grinned, while Harry groaned. "What did you read about me, Lysander?"

"Lorcan." The boy corrected her amicably, walking faster to be beside her. "It's not that easy to tell, but I have a beauty spot near my chin."

"..._et c'est plus gros que mon orteille...(1)"_ grumbled Lysander.

_"Lysandre, tais-toi!(2)"_ Rolf said sharply.

_"Oui, papa.(3)"_

Lorcan grinned. "You're the Captain for the Holyhead Harpies, right?"

* * *

The sounds of trains stopping and shouts and the pattering of feet weren't new for Albus. He was starting his second year at Hogwarts, and was just happy to be at King's Cross, of all places. He had already forgotten about the events of that morning and was looking forward to boarding the train.

James, on the other hand, was as sour as a lime. He pushed his trolley towards the barrier.

"James, wait for Mum and Dad!" Albus shouted after him. His brother could be so stubborn at times.

James looked back at him. "I don't give a flying fuck!" He disappeared through the barrier.

Albus scratched his head. Where did he learn to say that?

Lily and Ruth appeared a second later. "Where's James, Albus?" Lily asked, suspicious. Ruth looked at the muggle passers-by in apparent fascination.

"Umm...well, you see...argument...him.."

"Never mind. Ruth, watch over the luggage, please." Lily strode towards the barrier.

"Lily, stop!"

She disappeared.

Albus groaned and smacked his face. Ruth stared at him interestedly. "You people certainly have the talent for drama, don't you."

His hand slid from his face.

* * *

"James! JAMES!" Lily pushed past carts loaded with hooting owls, luggages in order to find her furious brother.

A red-headed figure appeared out of the smoke. "Lily!" It was her uncle Percy.

"Sorry, Uncle Percy!" she cried, rushing past him. She had to get to her brother soon. "JAMES POTTER!" she bellowed.

She found him sitting on the train in an empty compartment. Lily boarded the train and opened the compartment door.

"Go away, Lil."

"Oh that's nice." Lily said huffily, and sat opposite of him. "What's your problem?"

"My problem?" James said incredulously. "_My_ problem?" he made an insane laugh, which wasn't like him."My problem is that _Albus_ doesn't understand subtlety even if it danced in front of him wearing pink galoshes, that Mom and Dad are too fed up with our jokes in the house so they send us to Grandma's house, which is like sending me to hell, what with Uncle Bill's family living there now, the place is so crowded you won't even believe! Everyone wants to camp out at their place!"

"Well." Lily said. "I don't know what to do about that."

James stood up. "Just leave me alone, Lily. I'm not in the mood for siblings right now."

"But-"

"GO!" He pushed Lily out and slammed the door.

Lily glared at the door, and then got off the train and back to the barrier. Her family was waiting for her there.

"Lily, where's James?" Ginny asked anxiously. Ruth looked at Lily's distraught expression while Lysander and Lorcan stood beside her.

Lily looked at the ground. "He's on the train. He won't listen to me."

Everyone was silent. Finally, Luna spoke. "Is that your daughter, Ginny?"

"Yes," Ginny sighed, "and this is Albus and the oldest one James is locked in a compartment right now."

"Ah," Luna nodded sagely.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

"Mind if I sit?"

James grunted. "Whatever."

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy sat on the opposite side of James Sirius Potter, completely unperturbed by being in a Gryffindor's presence. James merely snorted and looked out at the platform, where there were many tearful farewells from the Weasleys and the Potters. His mother Ginny had just finished hugging Lily and was looking at him with a sad crease between her eyebrows.

"They irk you, don't they." What Scorpius said wasn't a question.

"Sometimes."

Scorpius raised his eyebrow, but said nothing. But after a while...

"You're lucky, you know."

James looked at him quizzically. "Whaddya mean?"

"You're family's all happy and...together," Scorpius gestured to the huge crowd of cousins and relatives that had now surrounded Ginny.

James sighed. "I guess. They're still annoying though."

The Malfoy kid stood up and turned to face the compartment door. "Just count yourself lucky for once, eh, Potter?"

"Yeah yeah. Go on, Malfoy."

* * *

"Where _are_ they?" asked Albus impatiently, as soon as Auntie Angelina had finished saying goodbye to him. "They're always late."

"Patience, Al," Harry said reassuringly.

But it was hard to make out anyone with all the steam from the train.

"There they are!" George said, appearing to Harry's side with Angelina.

Four people immerged from the fog, two of them pushing trolleys packed with luggages and an owl. Two of them looked to be near Lily and Albus's age.

"Hey, Lily!" the older of the two, Rose, sprang upon the littlest Potter. "How have you been?"

"Not bad. You?"

"Excited!"

"Hey!" said Albus indignantly, "what about me?"

"Hi, Albus." Rose beamed at him.

"Well, I guess we should load the luggages onto the train then." Harry said to Ron, who nodded. With little effort, both luggages were in their respective places.

When they came back to the little group, they found Lily and Hugo having an intense discussion of what they were going to learn at Hogwarts.

"What if we have to learn Levitation Charms on the first day?" Hugo asked, worried out of his mind.

"I doubt it," Ron said skeptically.

"Phew." said Hugo.

"You'll learn it on the second day."

"WHAT?"

_"Ron!"_

Everyone laughed. Even Hermione managed a grudging smile on her face. Harry grinned and looked over Ginny's head to see whether there were any other Weasleys around; Bill's family, in particular.

What he saw instead was unexpected.

"Ron," whispered Harry, nudging him in the ribs, "after the train leaves, I have something to tell you."

"Sure," Ron said, looking over where Harry's eyes were situated on, "does this have anything to do with him?"

Draco and his wife were near a pillar not too far away, waving to their son who was already on the train.

"I think you already know the answer."

Ginny went to Lily and Hugo and each gave them lunch bags. "Now, you two be good," she said motherly, "Don't go picking fights, finish your homework, don't be late for classes, and write to us each week if you can, especially you, Lily. Visit Hagrid every so often and say to Neville for us-"

"Mum!" Albus groaned.

"Just do it."

"Okay..." Albus gave Ginny one last kiss and a hug for Harry and then boarded the train with Rose and Hugo.

"Lily," Harry said, pulling her to the side, "I know going to Hogwarts will be exciting for you and Hugo, and I know you'll do well," he paused, then put his hands on Lily's shoulders, "promise me you won't go looking for trouble."

"Why-"

"Just promise me, Lils."

"I promise." Lily was confused; why would her dad ask her to do something like that?

Harry smiled and ruffled her hair like he used to. "Okay, now be good." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now go! Shoo!" Lily ran to the train and waved to her family, knowing it would be a while until they would see each other again.

* * *

The smoke from the Hogwarts Express billowed into the distance, leaving deep dark clouds as it chugged along the countryside. It was a distinctive countryside, although a bit rural for a city-goers' taste, but a beautiful countryside nonetheless. And yet, it did nothing to assuage Lily Potter's fears.

"Oh, cheer up, Lily!" exclaimed Rose, already dressed in her school robes. Of all of her cousins, Rose was the most sympathetic towards her younger cousin. After all, it was hard being the youngest cousin in the family, not to mention the youngest sister.

They were on the train, and trying to find a free compartment, as usual. It was Lily's first year at Hogwarts, and being the nice person that she is, Rose offered to show her around. Lily couldn't ask her brother James or Albus to do it, mainly due to the lack of trust she had in them. What if they told her the wrong way to one of her classes?

The last thing Lily wanted was to stand out. She had heard stories of her father, Harry Potter, and she didn't want to go through school the same way Harry did.

Lily groaned. "Why? Why should I cheer up?"

"Because, you won't be alone at Hogwarts!" Rose reminded her, every now and then looking through compartments. The students in them were staring at the duo, and it was seriously creeping Lily out. "There's Fred, Roxanne, Dominique, Victoire, Me, Hugo, Louis, Molly, Lucy-"

"Great. I get it. Don't list all of my cousins, Rosie. It makes me feel weird!" she grumbled, grabbing hold of Rose's hand, and shoving her mercilessly into a compartment at the end of the corridor.

There was a scuffle and a bang, as Lily and Rose tumbled down, knocking a stray Chocolate Frog in the process. Food flew everywhere, and spare wrappers were strewn across. In Rose's haste to get up, she pulled on Lily's neck, making her younger cousin swear profusely. Another voice bellowed, and a disoriented Rose looked up.

"So sorry, we didn't realize this compartment was full." Lily looked up at Rose, who was being carefully polite. This was uncommon for Lily, since Rose was a kind person at heart who was rarely polite. She had heard the coldness in Rose's voice, and she moved around Rose to see who she was talking to.

"It's all right, you can stay here." It was Scorpius, the boy who gave her a tour of Flourish and Blotts. His voice was a light tenor now, with a vibrating quality to it. It sounded so beautiful, so elegant that Lily couldn't help but stare. He was reading a small book with a dark black cover, and he was the picture of peace.

However, Rose acted as though he hadn't suggested anything to them. "Come on, Lily, let's go."

"Why?"

"Because, I just realized that Dominique saved us seats. Let's go." Rose pulled Lily firmly out of the room, leaving the curious Scorpius behind. As soon as they were out of earshot, Rose started ranting.

"The nerve of him! It's as if nothing happened last year!" she said heatedly, and Lily couldn't help but feel annoyed by her cousin.

She crossed her arms and stayed put. "He looks pretty lonely to me, Rosie. And he has a name." She couldn't understand why Rose made up a lie just to get out of the compartment.

"So what if he's lonely. He deserves it! I don't give a rat's face about his name, Lily!" Rose replied back scathingly. Now Lily was intrigued. Never in her whole entire life had she heard Rose speak so vehemently against another person.

"Scorpius does not deserve it!" Lily retorted, fired up. She walked back to the compartment, slammed it open, and sat down on the opposite side of the boy, ignoring Rose completely.

Rose decided that she couldn't persuade Lily anymore, so she went to go find Dominique's compartment. Lily watched her leave with narrowed eyes.

"Hi." a voice said, stirring Lily from her thoughts. It was Scorpius. "Hello," she muttered.

"Which house do you suppose you're going to be in, anyways?" he asked out of the blue.

Lily knew all about Hogwarts, all due to the fact that her uncles, cousins, brothers and parents went there for their education. Almost all of her family were in Gryffindor except for the twins. "Gryffindor," she replied automatically. "My whole family has been there."

"It's always like that," he murmured, and Lily could hear the sadness in his voice. "My whole family has been in Slytherin. I'm in Slytherin."

"Slytherin? I don't think it's that bad." Lily said brightly, making Scorpius look at him. "Even though there's a lot of pure-bloods there, it isn't much of a deal."

"Really?" he said, intrigued. He had never met anyone with her kind of optimism.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. My father always says, 'It's not the house that counts, it's what's inside your heart that truly matters.'"

Scorpius stared at her in wonder.

"He always comes up with things like that."

They didn't say anything after a while.

Soon, lunch came with rapid haste, as the trolley lunch lady came by.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she said, giving a kind smile to the two of them. Scorpius looked at Lily, as though waiting for her to speak.

Lily cleared her throat. "I'll have some Chocolate Frogs and a liquorice wand." she said, leaning over to the trolley cart and taking the sweets.

"That'll be 1 galleon and 16 sickles please." the witch replied, looking expectedly at her. Lily fumbled in the front of her jeans pocket, when a pale hand reached out and stopped her. "I'll pay for it, miss."

It was Scorpius. "Why thank you, Scorpius." Lily smiled brightly, and Scorpius blushed. The trolley lady looked at the scene with a knowing smile on her face. "Well, young man, do you want to buy anything for yourself, since you're _paying_."

"I'll have a Cauldron Cake, please." he asked, and the lady handed him one. He gave the lady the change, and Lily closed the compartment door.

"You know," she said after a while, "you didn't need to do that for me."

Scorpius smirked softly. "It feels nice helping others," he replied thoughtfully. Lily stared. Her father had told her many stories about Scorpius's father Draco, not all of them were great. Most of the stories came from her Uncle Ron, who obviously had something against the man. The last anyone would expect is that Draco's son likes being selfless.

Suddenly she remembered what Scorpius had just said to her a few minutes ago...

"You said you were in Slytherin?"

* * *

A/N.: Yeah, I'm still alive.

Glossary:

(1) _"..et c'est plus gros que mon orteille."_ - and it's bigger than my toe.

(2) _"Lysandre, tais-toi!" -_ Lysander, calm yourself/ keep quiet/ stop it. I'm not sure which is which.

(3) _"Oui, papa." _- Yes, dad (father)

* * *

Disclaimer: All right reserved to JK Rowling. I do not own any Harry Potter characters, places, or ideas.

Do not use this plot without my permission.


	3. Disaster at Sorting

Chapter 3

Disaster at Sorting

_" ...__stapled shut, inside an outside world and I'm  
Sealed in tight, bizarre but right at home  
Claustrophobic, closing in and I'm  
Catastrophic, not again..."  
_

_~Before I Forget, Slipknot_

The sun had already sunk way below the hills of the countryside as Lily and Scorpius put on their school robes. The train slowly stopped and student after student got off the train towards the carriages.

"It was nice meeting you, Potter. If our parents weren't rivals, I bet we would've been friends." Scorpius said teasingly as they stepped onto the platform. Lily grinned. Scorpius wasn't that bad at all. "Perhaps," she agreed. She barely realized that the young Malfoy was beginning to grow on her.

"Firs' years, firs' years, this way! Come on now, firs' years!" From a distance Lily could see the big outline of Hagrid carrying a lantern. She approached him. "Hello, Hagrid." she smiled up at the half-giant.

"Hello, Lily!" he grinned, before continuing his usual round-up of first years. Lily followed him.

"Lily! Lily!" It was Hugo. He was half-running, half-trying to do up his tie. "I didn't see you at all on the train and I thought something happened to you!"

Lily shook her head amusedly as she helped him with his tie. "I was sitting in a different compartment, silly."

"How come you didn't sit with us, Lils?" he said insistently. Lily was spared answering that question when she saw Ruth gliding over to meet them.

"It's nice to see you, Lily. I spent most of my train ride talking with Mister Boy." Ruth said serenely, paying no attention to the guilty look Lily was wearing on her face. "He's a very nice person, but he has a mean mischief streak. I wonder if it runs in the family..."

"It runs in the family," Hugo assured her, momentarily forgetting that Lily hadn't answered his question. He gave Lily a look that clearly asked, "Who's Mister Boy?" Lily mouthed the name "Fred" back at him.

"All righ', you three?" Hagrid had reappeared with a gaggle of kids their age trailing behind him. "Okay now, follow me." He walked back, not towards the trail that led to the castle, but to the edge of the lake. Lily, Hugo, Ruth and the others followed him.

"WAIT! Excuse me!" Two identical twins, Lysander and Lorcan, were running down the riverbank, trying to catch up. Lily and Ruth rolled their eyes simultaneously; Lily's a bit more insistent while Ruth's eye-roll was more dreamy. "You're Hagrid, aren't you?"

"Tha' would be me," Hagrid said, straightening himself up from untying a boat, "and you are...?"

"We're Lysander and Lorcan, new students to Hogwarts." Lorcan pointed to both him and his twin. "I think we're in fifth year, but-"

"-there's a sorting we have to go through, isn't there?" The other twin finished his brother's sentence for him.

"Ahh, tha's righ'," Hagrid said, scratching his head and looking perplexed. "yeh can join us on the boats, I think there's enough space fer everyone."

"Thanks, chap!" Lorcan said, trying as hard as he could to pat the gamekeeper's shoulder.

"Yeah," Lysander told Hagrid, obviously very relieved. "You don't know how much this means to us."

Without further ado, both twins climbed into a boat. The other first-years followed their lead. Lily ended up in a boat with Hugo, Ruth and a small skinny-looking japanese girl, who retreated to the corner of the boat and refused to talk to them. Too soon, the boat ride was over and the shaken first-years and the twins got out of the boats and walked up the slope towards the castle. Hugo was trembling as though he just saw the giant squid. Lily guessed that her Uncle Ron had told his son all about the beast. She suppressed a snigger at her Uncle's antics.

"What a nice ride, that was," Ruth said conversationally as soon as they were climbing the stairs in the Entrance Hall. "It really gives you a feel about Hogwarts, doesn't it?" Lily humoured her and agreed as well. Ruth was nice, in her own odd, eccentric way. It would be fun to have her as a friend.

In front of them, Hugo stopped and puked all over the stairs leading to the doors. "Never again," he said weakly, catching up with them and leaning on Lily's shoulder, ignoring how Lily was trying vainly to wipe the remaining spittle off her shoulders.

Finally, all the newcomers arrived inside the Entrance Hall. "Now," Hagrid said, "yeh'll have ter wait fer P'fesser Warbler. She'll be here any minute." The half-giant winked at Lily, then traipsed loudly down the stairs again.

All of a sudden, there was a burst of smoke and a few startled first-years started screaming. The twins let out a chorus of raucous laughter as a witch appeared from the dewy fog.

Lily had never seen _anyone_ as flamboyant as this Professor Warbler. The woman in question was wearing a neon-rainbow colored robes that seem to have a life of its own, changing color every few seconds. It was dazzling to the eye. The robes were opened and instead of the traditional t-shirt or high-collared shirt that Lily had often seen on most professors, Professor Warbler was wearing a yellow shirt that had a design of a wand emitting sparks and the slogan, "Got magic?" on it. Instead of a traditional skirt underneath, the professor had decided to wear black leather skinny jeans, the kind Lily saw sometimes on some teenage Muggles on the street near London. Even her new professor's hairstyle had to be taken with a grain of salt. In Lily's clear opinion it looked like someone had tried to cut it short but failed miserably, so they decided to hack off the sides to turn it into an abysmal fohawk.

"Helloooo children!" The woman's voice had a certain spark to it, as if she had had too many cups of coffee that particular morning. "Welcome to Hogwarts! I'm Professor Paige Warbler, and I think I'll be seeing your faces in my classroom pretty soon!" She had a crazy glint in her eyes. "I'm the Transfiguration teacher here!"

Lily thought the woman had lost her marbles.

"Just a couple of rules before we get you kiddos settled in! First off: you'll be sorted into Houses! They'll be your home-away-from-home, if you know what I mean!" she grinned widely before continuing. "The Houses are as follows: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin! You also get house points for your house, so that at the end of the year, you win the House Cup! If you do any rule-breaking, you lose points! But if you do something good, like answer a question correctly," she paused for effect, "you earn points! Everyone got it so far?"

Everyone was too stunned to reply.

She took it as a yes. "Well, let's see if they're ready for you!" She walked towards the big giant doors and peered in.

"Weird lady, huh." Hugo said under his breath. Lily grinned and nodded her head. Even though Professor Warbler looked too loony to be an actual teacher, she was a definite change from the 'average' professor. She looked at her soon-to-be classmates. All of them seemed to be looking at her. Lily didn't know whether it was because of her parents' being famous but, sadly it looked like that was the true reason they were staring.

"Hi," she said meekly. One of them, an asian boy, walked towards her with a grin on his face. "So," he drawled pompously, "you're Lily Potter, the famous Harry Potter's daughter, eh?" Without pausing for an answer, he grabbed Lily's hand and shook it with much enthusiasm. "The name's Timothy Li. Pleasure to meet you. I hope we'll be in the same classes." He turned and saw Hugo. "You're the son of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, init? Nice to meet you. I'm Timothy Li."

"Nice to meet you too, Timothy." Hugo grinned. Lily rolled her eyes. Hugo was much like his father when it came to fame.

Ruth gazed unblinkingly at Timothy Li, who looked at her uneasily and gave a nervous wave. Without acknowledging the wave, Ruth turned to Lily. "I bet he has a Blumbering Humdinger in his luggage. That's why he's acting so loony." she stage-whispered to her. Lily hid a grin and just managed to nod. Timothy looked confusedly at the trio.

"WELL!" Everyone jumped. Professor Warbler was back again. "They're ready for you! Chop chop!" They all walked towards the big doors, which opened automatically. Lily suddenly had a bad case of nerves.

The Great Hall was bigger than Lily had ever imagined. It was more splendid than what her relatives had told her by far. The bewitched ceiling was more mystical than her Aunt Hermione could ever have read out of _Hogwarts: A History_. The number of tables, which could hold a lot of food according to her Uncle Ron, looked like they could withstand _anything_. The tables in question were filled with hundreds and hundreds of students, all of whom were craning their necks in order to see the new first-years.

The crowd of new students managed to inch their way to the front. Professor Warbler beamed at them effortlessly and picked up a scroll off of the stool, in which a hat was placed upon.

"Carter, Coryn!"

A lanky brunette with a nervous twitch in her right hand stumbled forward.

No sooner had Professor Warbler placed the hat on the girl's head, the hat yelled, "Hufflepuff!"

Cheering erupted from the Hufflepuff table. Karin took the hat off and ran towards the table, looking very relieved.

"So that's how they did it," Hugo muttered into Lily's ear. "Fred was pulling my ear the whole time."

Lily was confused. "What did Fred say?"

"He said that the hat morphs into a mountain troll and that we'd have to fight it." Hugo shuddered.

Ruth smiled serenely at him. "There's always a bit of truth in a lie." she said mysteriously.

Hugo stared at her, looking a bit frightened.

"Li, Zakura!"

The timid petite japanese girl who sat at the back of Lily's boat slowly walked forward, shoulders hunched, her haunted jade eyes looking around as though she had just realized where she was. The hat was on her head for a full ten minutes before it had decided.

"Slytherin!"

Hats were thrown into the air as the Slytherin table cheered uproariously. Zakura slowly took the hat off. She looked as though she was going to cry any second. The boy named Timothy looked at his sister with very narrowed eyes.

"Li, Timothy!"

He walked towards the stool and placed the hat on with a firm harshness.

"Ravenclaw!"

Timothy threw off the hat and looked as though he was going to destroy it. The Ravenclaw table cheered. He stalked off to join them.

"Longbottom, Alyssa!"

Lily looked at Neville who was seated at the teacher's table. He had a look of utmost concentration on his face as he watched his youngest daughter walk towards the stool.

"Gryff-" The hat cut itself off on the sentence.

The Great Hall buzzed with curious whisperings. It was apparent that the hat never cut itself off before. Alyssa had a deer-in-the-headlights look on her face. She shut her eyes tight.

"Slytherin!"

The whole Hall was silent. Lily looked once more at Neville. He looked shocked. Alyssa started crying hysterically. This time, some Slytherins cheered while most of the others looked around as if to ask themselves, "how could a child of a Light war veteran managed to land herself in our house?"

"Up you get, dearie," Professor Warbler said soothingly, losing some of her "caffeinated" voice. She gently guided Alyssa to the Slytherin table. Lily saw Scorpius get off of his seat to sit next to Alyssa. She teared her eyes off as the transfiguration teacher opened the scroll once more.

"Nott, Meghan!"

"That one's a Slytherin, for sure," one of the first-years said to her neighbour knowingly. "The Notts are all Slytherins."

"I'm not so sure," Ruth piped in cheerily, "look at what happened to Alyssa! You know, if you have too much certainty, you're more liable to be snorting Scravins in your sleep. They sneak in most magical people's airways sometimes, especially if your odour is a bit off." she added matter-of-factly.

"Why you little freak!-"

"Hufflepuff!"

The first year looked shocked. Apparently "Nott, Meghan" was in Hufflepuff, not in Slytherin as the girl had said. Angry, she started trying to grab Ruth by the scruff of her neck. Lily wrenched both of them apart, with the help of Hugo. As she shot the girl a warning look, she caught the eye of Fred, who nodded at her approvingly. She grinned.

"Potter, Lily!"

Lily froze, her heart pounding in her chest. Hearing the blood rush to her ears, she had to steady herself before making anymore movements. She slowly turned her head around. Her time had come. She walked slowly towards the stool, which seemed to get farther and farther away as she approached it. Was it a charm, merely to confuse her sense of movement? Once or twice she stumbled. Finally, she sat on the stool and Professor Warbler put the hat on her head. On reflex she shut her eyes tight, blocking all light from entering her vision. The noise from the Great Hall abruptly stopped as soon as the hat fell down to her ears.

"Well well well," the hat said victoriously, "another Potter. Yes, I have just the right house for you. After all, it runs in your blood." If the hat had a face, Lily would swear it was grinning right this minute.

Lily was shocked. The hat's voice was in her head? _"Can, can you hear me? My thoughts, I- I mean?" _she asked fearfully.

The hat shuddered as if it was wincing. "You're really loud, Miss Potter. And yes I can hear you." It sounded irritable. "It's time for you to be Sorted."

_"NO! Please Mr. Hat, listen... is there by chance a House where I can really do well in? I just get so tired of being my parent's daughter, surely you'd know exactly..." _She pleaded with the hat, desperate to make an impression that could possibly change her Sorting.

"Ho ho!" the hat cried cheerfully. "like father, like daughter." Lily made a mental note to ask her father what the hat meant by the statement. "Is that what you really want? I know just the House for you, dearie, as long as you want me to choose it for you. You'd do extremely well in it, yes, and it will definitely put you on the right track. Is this your final answer?"

_"Yes, please-"_

"Very well. If that's what you want...SLYTHERIN!"

Lily opened her eyes. Over a hundred pair of eyes stared right back at her. The faces of her family, her cousins, her parents, even her _grandparents_ flashed before her eyes. What would they _think_ about her new House? She quickly scanned the Gryffindor table for her relatives. Fred had an amused expression on his face, but her brother James looked anything but amused. He looked downright _furious._ Oddly enough, Lily was not surprised at James' reaction to her Sorting. Agitated, Lily looked for Albus' face. Sure enough, Albus looked confused, but his expression looked accepting to her. Hugo looked freaked out, but that was normal for him. Sadly enough, Ruth was too busy getting pulverized by the angry "Nott, Meghan's a Slytherin" student. Lily didn't bother to find her other cousins. Dominique and the twins might accept it, but Louis and Victoire would be too close-minded and would probably throw her dirty looks. Molly and Lucy wouldn't care, they'd just make fun of her. Lily had never really been around them that much anyway to care about what they thought of her.

"Lily?" It was Professor Warbler talking next to her. Lily ignored her.

The soothing voice was back. "Lily are you quite alright dear?"

She wouldn't break down like Zakura. She would be strong. She would make her father proud.

She got off the stool and walked confidently with her head held high towards the Slytherin table, ignoring everyone who was staring at her. Scorpius looked more than pleased at her being in Slytherin, grinning from ear to ear. He made room for her to sit next to him. James glare, if it were a weapon, would be able to drill a burning hole through Lily's skull. Thankfully she didn't see him, nor did she want to see him for the rest of the Feast.

"Scamander, Lorcan!"

"So," Scorpius began, leaning forward, his silver hair turning dark grey in the shadows, "how did you trick the Hat, Potter? Wanted to see me _that_ bad?" he smirked.

Lily swatted his arm lightly, grinnign as well. "I did no such thing!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Hmm, a Potter in Slytherin," the girl sitting next to Lily said thoughtfully. "who'd have known? You sure you're not the illegitimate child of Voldemort?" Lily looked at the girl. She looked so serious, but her gold-flecked brown eyes were dancing.

"Well, you'll just have to get used to it, Robinson," the girl right next to Lily said calmly, "I think it's a nice change. A Potter in Slytherin would be good for breaking stereotypes. Hello, Potter," the girl said warmly, holding out a hand to shake. "I'm Javielle de Rosales and this is my friend, Regina Robinson." Lily's eyes caught sight of a Prefects' badge gleaming on the girls chest. She smiled at her.

"Scamander, Ruth!"

Lily looked at the sorting. It seemed that she had missed Lysander's sorting. She got her answer though; the Scamander twins were sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

"Slytherin!"

"What?" Lily said, her jaw widening. Ruth happily skipped, still wearing the Sorting Hat. Lily gestured wildly at Ruth to take off the hat before she made a fool of herself. Ruth caught on to Lily's gestures and ran back to put the hat on the stool. She ran again towards the Slytherin table, oblivious to the laughter of her now-fellow snakes. Scorpius snorted.

Ruth beamed at Lily serenely. "Hello, Lily. I suppose you're wondering how I managed to wind up in Slytherin." Lily just stared at her. "I guess I just had a stray menacing thought about the girl who was beating me up back there. Or else I could have swallowed a mind-swatching gnat by accident."

Lily gaped at her like a fish out of water.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Ruth continued dreamily, "The girl smells like a drunken banshee." Several Slytherins at the table guffawed or sniggered into their robes. Lily and Scorpius were not impressed by her eccentricities.

"Sit down before you embarrass yourself further, Scamander." Scorpius drawled. "Budge along!" he barked at Regina, clearly wanting her to make room for Ruth.

Regina shot an ugly sneer at Scorpius. "Shut it, Malfoy. I'll do as I please." But she grudgingly moved for Ruth. The eccentric girl floated down to her seat.

"Weasley, Hugo!" Lily watched as Hugo sat on the stool, awaiting his fate. He was trembling dangerously.

The hat barely grazed the top of his head. "Gryffindor!"

The sound the Gryffindor table made was deafening.

Javielle sneered. "Just look at the lot. Bunch of hypocritical ruffians, the lot of them."

"Umm-" Lily started. She didn't know how she was going to be diplomatic about Gryffindor without making a bad impression on her new friends.

"Look, I know most of your family's in that house," Javielle said impatiently, "but that's no excuse to treat us badly. I'm a muggle-born, the first in Slytherin and they still treat me as though I'm a Death Eater!"

"You think you got it bad," Scorpius added, "at least they don't call you 'ferret' and threaten to change you into one every time you bump into them."

"Who did that?" Javielle asked angrily, "how come you never told me?"

"I just thought it wasn't much of a big deal at the time," the boy shrugged nonchalantly.

"MacDonald, Beatrice!"

Lily looked at the two. She couldn't imagine that the feud between Slytherins and Gryffindors was so deep! Even her father had put away his hatred of Slytherin behind him. Well, he had no choice, because his auror partner was Blaise Zabini of all people. And it must have worked because her father had even invited Mr. Zabini to their house for dinner!

"Gryffindor!"

Another roar from Gryffindor was enough to make Lily's ears ring. "How come they're so loud?" she asked Scorpius.

"Because," Scorpius said bitterly, "don't you see? They're the smallest House. Even though they have the most number of children from war veterans, a lot of people either end up in Hufflepuff or our House nowadays."

"That's weird," Lily said thoughtfully. Ruth tapped her shoulder. "I think it's because the Hat is prejudiced." she nodded knowingly.

Lily didn't know how to respond to Ruth, so she nodded and just watched the ceremony.

"Zabini, Thomas!"

Mr. Zabini's youngest son Thomas walked up to the stool and put the hat on. He was the last one from the crowd of new first-years. Lily recalled a time when she was very young, where she had visited the Zabini house. Thomas was a very nice boy, but his brother Leon had a mean streak. Just as soon as the hat touched Thomas' head, it shouted the House name.

"Slytherin!"

Thomas stood up and put the hat down. He made his way to the Slytherin table. Lily cheered and made room for him to sit down next to her.

"It's nice to see you again, Lily," Thomas said sincerely. "I didn't think we'd be in the same house!"

Lily could only smile brightly at him. Ruth looked at Thomas interestedly from across the table.

The sound of clinking against china made the whole room silent. The Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, was about to speak.

"Hello, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts," she looked at everyone imperiously before continuing. Lily suddenly had the picture of a cat in her head. She shook her head dazedly. "Just a few reminders for you all: The Forbidden Forest is banned for everyone who does not want to die a painful death. A list of banned substances from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes will be available to all from our caretaker, Mr. Filch. Lastly, the Gryffindor dormitory is undergoing some changes, so once the feast is over, Professor Longbottom and I will show you where your temporary House will be staying," she said directly to the Gryffindors, who had shocked looks on their faces.

"Now," she said, spreading her arms wide, "let the feast begin!"

The sound of a hundred hungry, eager students filled the Great Hall as a multitude of dishes piled with food appeared on all four tables. Lily turned and saw Thomas digging into the leg of a veal with unadulterated enthusiasm. She looked away in disgust and amusement. Finally, she found a chicken leg and quickly started to separate it from the chicken.

Just as soon as she got the chicken leg, a curious cold sensation envelopped her. She looked around and saw a long wispy sword protruding out of Zakura's chest. She shrieked as Scorpius laughed.

"It's the Bloody Baron!"

A ghost covered with bloodstains rose out of Zakura, who looked very pale. He barked with laughter and proceeded to swoop down the Slytherin table. Lily laughed along with the others; it was clear that the Bloody Baron was enjoying himself.

All too soon, the feast was over. Lily sat back with a contented smile. She had never eaten that much food in her life. The only thing that came close to it was Grandma Molly's cooking at the Burrow.

Lily frowned. What would her grandmother say, if she knew what House she had landed herself in? She shook the depressing thought from her head.

"Lily!" Scorpius was jabbing at her side. "We have to go to our dorms." Lily followed her House to the Slytherin dorms.

* * *

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I'm pretty sure you've already heard from everybody else that I'm in Slytherin. Albus, Fred, Roxanne and Dominique don't seem to mind. Hugo's still in shock after the feast and he looked sick so I didn't ask him. And yes, I talked to them after the feast. I hope you don't mind either. Albus told me that you wouldn't mind, Dad. He said you'd explain the reasons why. I think he's hiding something from me._

_I saw Mr. Zabini's son Thomas at the Sorting. He's in Slytherin too, as well as Alyssa. I'm not sure if Neville minds. She was in a right state after, crying during the entire feast. I hope she's alright, because I haven't seen her since then._

_There's this real shy girl named Zakura in my dorm. It seems like she prefers being alone. And yes, I'll try to be friends with her, Mum._

_I said hi to Hagrid. He said to remind you that he's invited you to his hut on Saturday at one in the afternoon._

_Love, Lily_

_P.S.: When I had the sorting hat on my head, the hat said something along the lines of "Like father, like daughter." What did that mean?_

Several parchments littered the floor of the dorm room as Lily tried in vain to make her letter sound as indifferent as possible. She had a million things on her mind already. She didn't feel like including what she felt about all of this, when it was clear that someone in her family was bound to not take it well. Putting her lit mahogany wand between her teeth, she concentrated on her letter once more.

"Lily?" The door of the dorm opened as Alyssa looked in. Her face and eyes were puffy from crying.

Lily immediately stood up. "Are you okay, Alyssa?" she asked, directing her to the empty four poster where the Alyssa's untouched luggage was sitting.

"I'm fine," she replied, sitting down and wiping the remainder of her tears. "Daddy talked to me after the feast."

"And?"

"He's f-fine with it." Lily laughed in relief and hugged Alyssa. As soon as she let her go, Alyssa got into the bed and turned off the light while Lily took off the luggage from the end of the bed.

"Goodnight, Lily."

"'Night, Aly."

It was just like old times, when Lily would come to the Longbottoms for a sleepover. Only Lily decided not to go to sleep for another hour. She had to finish her letter before tomorrow.

Sighing, she continued to re-write her letter.

* * *

Disclaimer: All right reserved to JK Rowling. I do not own any Harry Potter characters, places, or ideas.

Do not use this plot without my permission.


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